Around the world in 24 hours...

I decided this post could double as letting you guys know I'm alive as well as helping me stall before my train tonight. I feel like this has been the longest day ever, and I really should wait before I write because I'm sure the last leg of the trip will be just as interesting. I made it on a flight to Brussels, Belgium- and got bumped to first class- but when I tried to find the hotel that the flight attendents were at to drop my luggage so I could explore the city, I kept walking in circles and decided it would just be easier to move on to Paris. So I had to take a train from the Brussels airport station to a different Brussels station and then to Paris. And there is no room for luggage on those trains. And Flemish is really hard to understand. I had no idea if I was on the right platform/train until I heard a stop I recognized. Then I navigated the Gare du Nord in Paris, and the Metro, to get to the Jardin au Luxembourg, which is right in front of me as I type this. Along the way, my duffel fell off my other suitcase a million times. And I felt like an idiot a million times. But I was shocked at the number of people who asked me if I needed help or directions- one man helped me carry my bags up the stairs at the Metro exit and then told me that's what guys are for and I should always tell them to help me. Anyway, I would have to say that the whole Parisien snob stereotype doesn't seem very true. I know this is a rambling post, but it feels like 7:30 in the morning without having slept the night before and reading way to many maps. One last thought- as I was sitting in the garden, I looked up and realized I could see the Eifel Tower.